


slow motion

by orphan_account



Category: All Time Low, Bandom, Bring Me The Horizon, Falling in Reverse, Of Mice & Men (Band), Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gender or Sex Swap, M/M, Multi, Pole Dancing, Rape/Non-con Elements, Strippers & Strip Clubs, WLW Characters, background trans character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-20 16:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11338785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The girls work at a strip club. Alternately, Kellin and Vic are dating, Jaime is house mom, Ronnie is an asshole, and sometimes things aren't as good as they seem on the outside.





	slow motion

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! i got curious and wanted to try my hand at this kind of wlw sex work story, so here we are. (i did a Lot of research and watched a ton of pole dancing videos, but it's probably not all accurate, and definitely does not adhere to any one state's/country's strip club laws. if you can ignore that, i think it's an okay story.)  
> to avoid confusion, the girls' names and stage names both start with the same letter! :)  
> -  
>  _**DISCLAIMER (added dec.2017): given recent allegations against mike and his subsequent departure from the band, it's important for me to add that i do not in any way endorse any of the behaviour he's been accused of. if i had written this recently i would not have included him the same way (or at all). his character here can be thought of as an entirely fictional entity independent of the person it was originally based on.**_

"Kellin, your regular is here!" Jaime calls from the doorway of the dressing room, an expectant hand on her hip.

"Shit," Kellin hisses, hastily trying to glue on the other half of her false eyelashes without looking deranged. "Hang on, I'm coming," she tells Jaime, quickly brushing on another coat of mascara. She turns around from the makeup table and starts rummaging through Jack's pile of stuff that is currently overtaking hers, finally fishing out the pair of red suede booties. She slips her right foot in and laces it up as rapidly as possible before doing the same for the left. "He was supposed to be coming in ten minutes," she says breathlessly, quickly hobbling over to the door and peeking out into the hallway. "Where is he?"

"He's talking to Mike at the bar," Jaime says.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Kellin grumbles, smoothing her miniskirt. She fluffs up her hair and heads down the hallway, turning her walk into a hip-swaying strut and putting on her best seductive smile as she heads to the bar.

"Ben!" She exclaims, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "It feels like I haven't seen you in forever, baby!"

"Hey, Kitty," Ben smiles at her. "How's my favourite girl?"

Kellin giggles and sits down at the bar beside him, flirtatiously leaning forward in order to display her cleavage. "I'm good. Are you going to buy me a drink?" (It's a bold move to say something cocky like that, but she's known him for a couple months now and knows that he likes a fairly vapid girl with a feisty side.)

Ben snaps his fingers and Mike appears. "Can I get a glass of champagne for my girl?"

Mike nods, and Kellin giggles again, pressing up against his side. "What do you have in mind for tonight?" she asks. "I'm scheduled to be onstage from eight-thirty to nine, but if you want to go somewhere more private afterwards…" Mike sets down a small flute of champagne in front of her and she takes a sip.

"Not tonight, Kitty. I have a poker game at nine. I just wanted to stop in, grab a drink and catch the start of the show," he says, winking.

Kellin nods, putting a hint of coy disappointment in her expression. She's slightly put-off that Ben won't be requesting a private dance tonight, since she knows how well he pays. "Maybe next time, then," she shrugs. "Hey, I've been working on a new routine that I think you're really going to like!" she says, switching back to happy, "Friday night's the debut."

"Oh, really? I'll have to come by again. What time?"

"Ten-thirty to eleven on main stage. I'll even wear those shoes you like," she adds with a smile.

They make small talk about his day at work for another fifteen minutes, until it's Kellin's time to take the stage. She checks the time and ducks into the prep room to shuck her skirt before remerging. Kellin looks over at the floor manager - Austin - who nods, and makes her way up the three steps to the raised platform with a pole in the center. The spotlight blinks on, the music starting to play as she gives the audience a smile before grabbing the sturdy metal.

Kellin does a slow, coy circle before getting into it; she leans back against the pole and undulates her hips for a moment, then grabs on in earnest and does a reverse spin to test the waters, wrapping one leg around the pole. She unwraps it to do a windmilling fan kick with both her legs. Someone claps.

As she gains confidence, Kellin grabs on backwards and lets her momentum spin her around, spreading her legs before closing them and letting herself slide to the ground. She does a bit of teasing while laying on the ground - floor work isn't really her forte as much as it is Alex's - before getting to her feet and jumping up on the pole, letting her upper body hold her as she wraps her legs around it and lets go, leaning back. There's a wolf-whistle from the crowd.

Kellin leans back into a handstand, letting go with both legs until she's leaning on the pole, extending them. She draws one back in and wraps it around the pole, using the crook of her knee to allow her to grab on with her hands and hoist herself up.

Kellin loses herself in her routine after that, doing what she's practiced and then some freestyle for the last ten minutes. She generally has fun dancing, and tonight, she makes a decent amount of money off tips thrown on the stage. She's flushed when she finally gets off.

The rest of the night passes in a blur; Kellin doubles as a shot girl from eleven to twelve, flirting and delivering drinks for Mike. She takes side stage from twelve to twelve-thirty and is off by one.  


Her feet ache by the time she finally sits down at her makeup table to pull her shoes off, groaning in relief as she tosses the boot aside. "Oh my _god_."

Jaqueline laughs from the table beside her. "Feels good?"

"Oh, yeah," Kellin nods, wearily massaging the bridge of her foot. "Mm. Can't wait to put on my slippers and fall into bed. How did you do for tips tonight, Jack?"

Jack shrugs. "Not bad. I did two private dances, so I'm doing… not bad. I caught the end of your routine at nine, by the way - you were on fire tonight. Really hot."

"Thanks," Kellin laughs. She leans into the mirror and gently pulls off her fake eyelashes, setting them inside their container and shutting it. "You and Alex got any plans once you go home?"'

"Nah. Sleep until noon, probably. The usual."

"Either of you guys working tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we both are. Six until midnight. Topless gig for a private bachelor party in the lounge. Are you?"

"No," Kellin shakes her head. She stands up and unzips the side of her miniskirt, letting it fall down her legs and stepping out of it. She grabs her sweatpants from her bag and slips them on. Instead of unlacing the complex ties of the corset top, she just throws a dark green hoodie on over top.

"Bye," Jack offers as Kellin slips on her flip flops.

"See you around," Kellin nods, shuffling over to the back entrance door. "Lock the door after me, please."

The night is dark, but pleasantly warm when she exits the building and makes her way over to her crappy car, carrying her bag with her heels, makeup kit and skirt.

The drive home is a short one - technically, her apartment is close enough to walk, but seeing as she typically gets off work at midnight or later, it feels safer to drive. She's hungry, but nowhere close is open this time of night, so she drives home with her stomach growling.

Kellin lets herself into the building, her legs feeling like lead as she walks a short ways down the hall to her door and unlocks it.

"Vic, babe, I'm home," she announces as she steps inside.

"How was work?" comes the response from the bedroom.

Kellin lets her bag drop to the floor with a slight thump. "It was fine. I got good tips." She sighs and takes off her flip flops, pulling her hoodie off over her head as she pads into the lamp-lit bedroom. "Can you untie me?" she asks quietly, sitting down on the side of the bed.

Her girlfriend sets her book aside and shifts over to sit behind her, going to work on the ties. "This can't be comfortable," she chuckles.

"Is anything we do comfortable?"

"Yeah, you're right," Victoria snorts. "I'm going to have crazy bunions by the time I'm thirty. Fucking stilettos."

They sit in comfortable silence as Vic gradually unties the corset. She finishes the last tie and Kellin peels it off. "Thanks," she says softly, standing up. She stretches, slips off her sweatpants and walks over to the adjacent bathroom in her panties. Kellin soaks a cotton pad with makeup remover and going to town on her eyes. She goes through three pads before she gives up and washes her face, each of them stained pitch black as she throws them in the trash.

"You're working the bachelor party with Jack and Alex tomorrow night, right?" Kellin asks as she splashes her face.

"Yeah. Jaime's off tomorrow and I need to train that new girl, Jordan, so I'll leave around ten to do some errands before my shift and be home around twelve-thirty."

Kellin moves over to the towel rack and pats her face dry. "God, I'm tired." She's still hungry, but can't muster the energy to go find something to eat in the kitchen.

"Come to bed," Vic says, a faint smile in her voice.

Kellin turns out the bathroom light and walks over to the bed, flopping down. "I'm too tired for sex right now," she grumbles into her pillow.

Vic shifts up behind her until they're spooning. "That's fine. Let's just sleep."

So they do.

\---

Kellin enjoys her day off, but with Victoria at the club, it's boring around the apartment.  
She sleeps in until eleven, does laundry down in the laundry room in the basement, chemical cleans the bathroom and kitchen, organizes their plethora of shoes, tidies the bedroom and changes the bedding, but she still has plenty of time to do nothing.

She ends up taking the bus downtown to the gym and then to the mall - Vic has the car - and finds herself visiting her favourite sex shop. It's the only place in the city that offers comfortable leather attire, and she's been eyeing up a complicated black body harness for a while now. It would look great with her thigh high black platform boots.

She sighs. Maybe another time, when her paycheck is a little more robust.

\---

As relaxing as the occasional day off can be, it's almost a relief to be back to the routine of work. She comes in on Friday before the club opens for the night to help set up.

She walks in the door and sees the usual wait staff tidying up, and an unfamiliar person wiping down tables in fishnets, short shorts and a hot pink pushup bra.

"Hey," Kellin says, approaching her. "Are you Lea? The new dancer?"

The woman - girl, really - looks up and grins with crooked teeth. "Yeah, that's me," she says. _British, then._ "I go by Lee. You must be… Kellin, right? Victoria told me all about you."

Kellin laughs. "Yeah, that's me."

"Jaime told me you're really good. At dancing, I mean," she blushes.

"Is this your first time working in a club?"

"Yeah. It's that obvious, is it?"

Kellin nods. "A bit, yeah. You'll get used to things around here."

"Yeah?" Lee smiles. "Everyone seems really nice. It's been good so far. I'm not actually officially working tonight, just as a server."

“You’ll do fine. Anything you need, you come to Jaime, Olive or me, okay?”

“Okay,” Lee replies, looking down and wiping at the table. “Hey, um. You might have noticed, but. I’m transgender,” she says, her gaze flicking up nervously, cheeks ruddy. “I just. You can probably tell, but I don’t want rumours to start, or-- I just want to be open about it.”

“Oh,” Kellin says, “Well, that’s cool. We’re a family here, you know? We’re diverse and we stick together. If anyone gives you trouble, Jaime will deal with them. Go to her first,” she advises.

“Okay,” Lee smiles. “I’m… Thanks.”

"Well, I'll see you around then," Kellin smiles back. "I'm going to go put my stuff in the back and get ready."

As she turns away to go to the back room, her smile fades slightly. Lee, with all her wonderfully soft, baby-faced innocence and cute smile? She won't last a fucking week.

Kellin tries to put it out of her mind as she takes her bag to the prep room. Jaime and Olive are inside getting ready, and Kellin takes the table next to Jaime. "Hey."

"Hey," Jaime nods back as she does her eyeliner. Kellin strips off her loose grey t-shirt, adjusting her strappy bralette-style pushup bra and pulling out her makeup kit.

"Love the top," Jaime shoots her a grin.

"Yeah, it's pretty cute," Oli says, not looking away from blending her eyeshadow.

"Thanks," Kellin replies, opening her eyeshadow palette. She's long since learned to apply her foundation and colour corrector before leaving the apartment. "I got it from Urban Outfitters, actually."

They chit chat about nothing in particular as they put on their makeup. Alexandra comes in partway through, muttering a hello.

"Hey," Kellin greets her, "How's it going?"

"It's fine. Sorry for being late, Jack and I were having car troubles and shit."

Kellin is just about to say something about it not being a problem when Austin walks into the room. "Cutting it close, are we, Alex? We've got ten minutes 'til opening."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I just--"

"I don't need to hear it," Austin waves a hand, "and honestly, I don't really care that much. But Ronnie does, and if you keep coming in late, I'm going to have to tell him."

Alex looks down at her feet. "Yeah. I understand."

"You tell Jack that, too. If she arrives past her scheduled clock-in time once more--"

"We get it, Austin," Jaime says, cutting him off. "She didn't do it on purpose."

Austin exhales. "Alright, fine. Just get ready, please." He leaves the room and they all turn back to their makeup.

"Fuck him," Oli grumbles. "Really. He acts all nice and in charge, but he's really just Ronnie's bitch."

Kellin finishes gluing on her eyelashes, swipes a final coat of mascara over her lashes and stands up. She strips off her sweatpants and grabs her pastel pink platform heels from her bag, sitting down to put them on.

"Hey, is Vic coming in tonight?" Alex asks.

"Yeah, at nine."

"Jordan's coming in at eight, too, so I want all of you guys to show her how we do things around here," Jaime says, looking between them. "It's her first full-length shift and she'll be serving drinks."

"Fresh blood," Olive smirks.

Jaime reaches over and smacks her shoulder. "See? That's exactly what I don't want to hear tonight."

"It's fine, Himes, we'll keep an eye on her," Kellin laughs, getting up.

She walks out of the prep room and over to the bar. The lights have been dimmed to set the atmosphere, and Mike is wiping down his equipment.

"How's it going?" Kellin asks, leaning against the counter.

Mike looks up and shrugs. "It's fine. You ready for tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm only working main stage from nine to nine-thirty, but I'm going to be doing a new routine."

"Cool," Mike nods, "That's awesome. Did you hear Ronnie's coming in tonight?"

Kellin frowns. "He is?"

"Yeah, that's what I've heard from Austin. He'll be in around eight to check up on things, since Friday is our busiest night and all."

"Huh," Kellin raises her eyebrows. "Well, that's fine." She's already thinking of ways to avoid him as she walks away from the bar, nodding to a couple customers.

It's not that Ronnie is necessarily unattractive, but he has a way of being too handsy and getting on her nerves. He's come on to her multiple times, both while working and off, and she's heard talk of him sleeping with the new girls often enough. Hell, Kellin probably would have _been_ one of those girls if Olive hadn't taken her under her wing as soon as she got hired.

Kellin shakes herself out of her thoughts and goes to stand by Jaime, who is standing outside the open door in her thigh high stockings, garter belt, miniskirt and crop top - as house mom, she rarely works as a server, and often takes first dibs on being a door girl.

"Hey, Kitty," she greets Kellin by her stage name.

Kellin nods. "Hey."

Someone shouts out the window of a passing car and Jaime waves, smiling. "Can you go check on Lacy?" she asks, pointing inside to where Lee is standing nervously by the stage.

Kellin exhales a laugh through her nose. "Yeah. She looks lost."

 _Lacy, huh?_ she thinks, going back inside. _Not a bad name._

(Kellin remembers her first night working as a server at the club - she had been skittish, but eager to learn. Jaime had been busy training Jaqueline, so Olive - Odysseia, as she is known professionally - had approached her.

"New kid?" she had asked.

Kellin just nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, we'll get you straightened out. Nice quads, by the way, look great in those panties. You go to the gym much?")

Kellin smiles to herself at the memory as she walks over to Lee. "Hey, Lacy, you need help?"

"Uh," Lee looks over with a frantic look. "Yeah, maybe. I… I don't know what to do?"

"C'mon, I'll show you," Kellin smiles, wrapping an arm around Lee's ample shoulders.

\---

The new routine goes really well, and Kellin is pretty proud of herself as she gets off the stage at nine-thirty and collects her tips. She stores the cash in her lockable cubby in the prep room, powders away what little sweat shines through on her face and goes back out again. Kellin catches sight of Vic in blue high-waisted panties and bunny ears, and walks over to the bar where she's collecting a tray of shots from Mike.

"Hey, Vedette," she says casually. "Can I help you carry those?"

She and Vic try to keep their relationship on the down-low at work, but it would be a lie if Kellin said seeing her girlfriend at work didn't make her shift infinitely more bearable.

"I'm good," Vic says, leaning in to mutter, "It's a round of body shots going to Ronnie's table, I don't think you want to come."

Kellin shoots a look over her shoulder to one of the booths where Ronnie is sitting with two other men, laughing, his arm slung around the waist of one of the dancers at his side. Something about it makes her skin crawl, but she lets Victoria go with a hand on her shoulder nonetheless.

Kellin wanders around and does a few lap dances after that, but no one orders a private dance.

"Hey, Kitty!" she hears as she's tucking a ten dollar bill into her bra.

She turns around. "Ben!" she greets him with a smile, "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks."

Kellin shifts in closer. "You look tired, honey. Ready for the weekend?"

"Yeah," Ben nods. "The baby has been keeping me up at night like you would not believe."

"Hey, did you catch my new routine tonight?"

"Oh, I missed it, sorry. Work."

"Don't worry about it. If you like, I could give you a private rendition in one of the rooms," she offers with a smile.

To her mild surprise, Ben agrees and pays for a half hour increment. Kellin has a good time going over the highlights of her routine on the provided pole and then doing an increasingly dirty lap dance on the couch; Ben tips well, and when they emerge, everyone is happy.

"See you later," Kellin waves with a smile as Ben exits. She looks around the room and sees the dancers looking quiet, glancing between themselves. "What?" she asks Jaqueline, who’s closest.

"Uh," Jack says, shifting closer. "Ronnie just took Odysseia into a private room."

" _What?_ "

“I don’t know, okay, I just saw them go in. He had an arm around her shoulders and she--”

She's about to say something more when Austin walks over and says, "Jewel. Main stage. Now."

"But I'm not scheduled--?" Jack starts confusedly.

"Stop gossiping and just do it." Jack hurries off, and Austin looks pointedly around the room, making everyone go back to their usual business. The customers don't seem to have noticed much. He turns to Kellin. "Got anything to say, or are you done standing around talking?"

"What?" Kellin says, taken aback by his unusually rude manner. "No, I'm--… I'm good."

"Good. Get back to it, then."

He walks off, and Kellin shakes her head to herself, then goes back to work. She patrols the seats by main stage where customers are watching Jack as she works the pole, flirting and giving lap dances like second nature. After a half hour passes and Olive and Ronnie still haven't come out, she shoves down her nervousness and approaches Tony, who is standing at the front of the hallway with the private rooms.

Tony may have a quiet personality and he may be fairly slight in stature, but he has mixed martial arts training and Kellin has seen him take down a drunken three-hundred pound sleazeball more than once.

"Hey," she greets him. "Everything okay?"

It's an innocent question, but Tony seems to understand.

"I haven't heard anything," he says cautiously. "And I think Austin is watching you."

"Fuck," Kellin rolls her eyes. She turns around with a bright smile for the floor manager's benefit, laughing as she turns away and makes a move to saunter over to the bar.

She freezes when she hears a cut-off scream and a smacking sound from one of the back rooms. No one else seems to notice over top of the loud music.

Kellin turns ad makes eye contact with Tony, who moves over to the second door and knocks on it with his fist. "Everything okay in there?"

Alexandra appears at the mouth of the hallway. "Is she…?"

"Everything's fine," comes Ronnie's voice from inside the room. "Just peachy. Isn't that right, Odysseia?"

Tony looks between Kellin and Alex, then knocks again. "I'm coming in," he announces.

"No the fuck you're not," Ronnie calls back from inside. "If you come in, you're fired, Perry."

"April! Kitty!" Austin snaps, stalking over, "Get back to work." Alex looks back at Tony and Kellin, then reluctantly walks off. "Kitty, if I have to remind you one more time," Austin warns.

"They've been in there for forty-five minutes," Kellin glares, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

"She's fine," Austin assures her. "It's Ronnie, guys.”

"Please, I just want to make sure," Kellin starts. "I heard--"

Austin steps forward. Kellin is only 5'3", and he towers over her when he wants to. "I don't care what you think you heard. That's your manager in there," he says in a low voice. "If you don't get back to work, I'm going to have a word with him about your performance. You too, Tony."

Kellin narrows her eyes and bites back what she wants to say, instead turning on her heel and walking away with red cheeks. She walks over to the bar, where the new girl - Jordan - is waiting on Mike to finish pouring a martini.

"Hey," Kellin says quietly, visibly upset. "You're...?"

"Joy," Jordan replies. "And you must be Kitty."

"Yeah," Kellin says quietly.

"Is Odysseia okay?" Jordan asks, concern in her voice. "I don't know Ronnie that well, but Vedette told me…" she trails off.

Kellin shrugs. "I don't know. Can I have a drink, Mike?"

Mike raises an eyebrow, but pours a shot of vodka for her anyways. They're technically only supposed to drink when a customer buys it for them, and never enough to get fully drunk, but Kellin figures as long as she uses her discretion, she'll be fine.

There's no one on side stage and no one scheduled to be on until midnight, so Kellin walks over and climbs up. She does a few spins and twirls, then pulls herself into a handspring, letting herself spin as she stretches her legs before transitioning into a lift and straddling the pole upside down.

Kellin rights herself and drops back into her feet, launching herself forward and up. Curling around the metal, she holds herself up with her thighs and forms her body into a ball as she spins.

It's therapeutic to freestyle and practice her moves in no set routine, but she's still surreptitiously watching to see if Olive or Ronnie come out of the back hallway. After fifteen more minutes elapse, she finally hears a door being thrown open, a frustrated scream and rapid footsteps.

Oli runs out of the hallway topless, clutching her top to her chest as she barrels through the club. Kellin only sees her for a split second, but it's enough time to register that her face is red on one side, like she's been slapped. There are dark red hickeys on her neck.

_Fuck..._

Kellin quickly collects what little tips that have been thrown on the stage, shoves them into her bra, climbs down from the platform and races after her. They aren't allowed to leave the floor except for breaks, but Kellin runs after Oli anyways, catching her just as she’s storming off into the parking lot.

“Olive, are you okay? What happened?"

"Go back inside," Oli says, sniffling. She's facing away from Kellin as she puts on her pink crop top. "Just go back inside, Kellin. Tell Ronnie I fucking quit."

"What?"

"I quit," Olive says, her voice trembling. "I'm going to the cops."

Kellin's heart drops into her stomach. "What? No," she says breathlessly, “Please, don't. You can't. Please, you’ll ruin everything, don't--"

Oli turns around with a thunderous expression, angry tears in her eyes. “Don't you see, Kellin? How fucked up this place is?” she screams, clutching her arms to her chest. “Do you _know_ the things they’ve made me do?"

Kellin stops. “Nowhere else will hire me and this fucking club is all me and Vic have left. If the cops come and shut us down… I’ve-- I’ve done things too, Oli. We all have. I’m not innocent anymore. But I need this job, okay? ”

“Would the club getting shut down really be the worst thing in the world?” Oli says, starting to cry. “After all the shit Ronnie has put us through? This isn't the first time he's pulled shit like this, and I know you know what he's like. This place is _toxic_ , Kellin. It’s killing me. I have to report this.”

She thinks about Ronnie; the lines of coke in the bathroom, the syringes after hours. The money changing hands and the dancers at his side. The hands on her ass in the darker corners and him walking into the prep room while they're changing.

"Please," Kellin says softly, raising her hands, “Please, don't. We can work this out, alright? We can talk to someone and they’ll fix this. We can sort out this whole mess and put it behind us.”

Olive’s doe eyes are hurt under her shaggy brown bangs. “I can't,” she says shakily, her voice wavering. “I have to tell someone. I can't just… I can't.”

She turns and starts to walk away. Kellin calls her name again, but she keeps going, pink stiletto heels clicking on the pavement as she hurries out of sight.

 

\--

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer - i'm not against sex work at all, and i'm not saying strip clubs are bad places to work. so... don't go getting any ideas that they're all abusive places or whatever.  
> *i think this one is going to stay a wip indefinitely, so, uh, sorry for the cliffhanger! thanks for reading and feel free to comment/drop kudos to your heart's content!


End file.
